Freetown - Culture

Sierra Leone is situated on the West Coast of Africa, latitudes 7° and 10° North and longitudes 10.50° and 13° West. It is bounded on the North and North East by the Republic of Guinea, on the east and southeast by Liberia and on the West and South by the Atlantic Ocean with a coastline stretching some 300 miles extending from the boundary with the Republic of Guinea to the north of the mouth of the Great Scarcies river on to southeast at the mouth of Mano river.

From an approximately 70 mile-wide coastal belt of low-lying land the country rises to a mountain plateau near the eastern frontier, to a height of some 4,000 to 6,000 feet in the rich timber forest region. The western area consists of the Sierra Leone Peninsula, the small islands of Sherbro, Tasso, Plantain, Banana, Turtle, York and others, as well as areas of inland territory approximately 255 square miles in all. The country has a total land area of some 27,925 square miles (73,326 sq km),with a population of four million people. Freetown, the capital and main commercial centre, has the highest density per sq km, and roughly about a quarter of the inhabitants of the western area are Krios.

The Peninsula on which Freetown stands is 25 miles long and 10 miles wide. A mountainous promontory, it rises in places to 300 feet above sea level, and is one of the few parts on the West African Coast where there is such high land so near the sea. This area has one of the world's best white sandy beaches, azure seas, pulsating resorts where the lush green forest spills down the hillsides to meet the most beautiful and unspoilt beaches.

In 1998 the international diamond industry produced an estimated 115 million carats of rough diamonds with a market value of US $6.7 billion. At the end of the diamond chain, this was converted into 67.1 million pieces of jewelry
worth close to US $50 billion.

The Institute of Public Administration and Management is located in the centre of Freetown on the University Drive at A J Momoh Street, Tower Hill. It is the first building on the right from the Sierra Leone Central Library end and last, on the left from the Fire Force end of the Drive.

1.     1999 started on a rough path. Freetown was invaded by the rebels as it was in large parts of the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the Country. This resulted in the displacement of a large number of people which required urgent humanitarian assistance.

NCRRR, in collaboration with all the humanitarian Agencies (UN Agencies, International and local NGOs, Community Based Organisations, Line Ministries, etc.) in the country, provided quick and well co-ordinated responses to this humanitarian crises. The bulk of these responses, in the form of food-aid, provision of temporary shelter (camps), non-food items, water and sanitation, health and nutrition, education and food production services, were provided by the UN specialised Agencies, International and local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

On behalf of Government and the Commission in particular, I want to register our profound appreciation to all of you and extend a big thank you for a job well done